Assistant Professor of Environmental Biology

Education

Research Interests

In the algal community ecology lab we examine how environmental conditions in freshwater ecosystems regulate algal community structure and function. Much of our research focuses on how processes related to ongoing climate change (e.g., variable hydrology, light availability, nutrient enrichment, and warming) influence algal community composition in wetlands and the potential consequences for food web structure. Our lab also examines associations between environmental conditions and the occurrence of toxin-producing cyanobacteria in an effort to build a model to predict the abundance and distribution of harmful algal blooms in lakes located within agriculturally dominated watersheds.

Rober A.R., K.H. Wyatt, & R.J. Stevenson. 2011. Regulation of algal structure and function by grazing and nutrients in a boreal wetland. Journal of the North American Benthological Society 30(3): 787-796.